Sleepless Solitude: The True-Life Journals of a Xanax'd Millennial (Part 2 of 2)

October 8

October 8

I joke about it, but I really do think there is some therapeutic value in writing these journal entries. Writing is a way for me to release the pent-up feelings I have about anything and everything in my life, so that I don't let emotions build up inside of me and then end up exploding on someone like that ghost from Ghostbusters.

Today was a really good day. The morning started off pretty groggy for me, but I eventually perked up and returned to my rightful place as most energetic member of the family.

Around 7:30 a.m., Mom answered a call from the hotel. A representative from the timeshare company was looking to confirm our attendance for the "free" breakfast Dad had signed us up for yesterday, so Mom passed the phone over to the man of the hour. Well, it turned out that we were expected to bring a credit card for a tour deposit, and this "breakfast" was going to be an assortment of apples, bananas, and muffins. Needless to say, Mom gave herself a pat on the back as Dad swiftly cancelled our RSVP. Dad had better think twice the next time someone offers him a "free" seven-day vacation. Nothing in this world is free.

Sometimes, I think Dad only wants to do things to spite people, or operate in the hopes that he can prove someone wrong, even though he knows deep down that he's entering himself into a losing battle. Anyway, Mom was more mature about it than I had expected. We were fortunately able to avoid the usual, "I told you so," lecture.

The morning progressed. We piled in the car, drove to Universal Studios, and began our day. What a boring motherfucker that theme park is. Seriously, though. I felt so bad the whole time we were there. It cost Mom and Dad $450 USD to take us for the day, and we were done everything Phillip wanted to do within our first two hours. Of course, we made the best of everything and did more than we would have normally wanted, but it was still extremely expensive for what we experienced.

It's times like these that I am glad I can make it up to my parents by getting everyone into Disney for free tomorrow. Similar to what happened in February at Disneyland, a friend who works for the Mouse gifted me with a set of tickets that she wasn't going to use. That's a massive savings. Like, around $500 worth. I don't think it's ever at the front of my parents' minds, but they definitely know the value of the tickets I provide. It makes a huge difference. Over the years, we have saved at least a couple thousand dollars through my old Florida connections. It certainly helps. It's also the least I can do, especially after conning Mom and Dad into taking us here for the weekend. I'm looking forward to giving the family their gift cards tomorrow for Epcot's Food and Wine Festival.

Anyway, back to Universal Studios. We had Harry Potter snacks in Diagon Alley, lunch in The Simpsons Springfield, went on countless rides, and vacated the premises around 4 p.m. Had I known this was only so I could be dragged to the closest outlet mall, I would have stayed at the park. I ended up sleeping in the car for an hour while Mom, Dad, and Phillip scoured discount racks for "deals." Oy. Fortunately, I had ample Mariah Carey concert videos from Las Vegas to keep me occupied when I couldn't sleep anymore.

Following the outlets, we returned to our hotel to decompress with snacks and a few drinks. At 8 p.m., we drove over to Disney Springs for the evening. It was awesome. I'm still in awe of what Disney has done with that property. We had great dinner at D-Luxe Burger – our meal was also very expensive, so there was a degree of guilt involved – and walked around together afterwards. We visited for a few hours and only went in about two-thirds of the shops. Disney Springs is huge.

Walt Disney World is really awesome. In fact, I'm somewhat jealous that it's changed so much since my old Florida exchange programs. I would've loved to have had all of the new local bars and restaurants around during those summers. Mind you, as the years go by and more rules and regulations are created for guests – both underage and legal – I wonder if I'm just romanticizing things. Fuck, man. We got away with so much shit back then. Thank God there wasn't any of this social media garbage to get us caught! It always makes me wonder what it would've been like to be a young adult in the '70s to '90s. Imagine all of the crazy shit they did that was never exposed? People weren't more "tame" back then – their antics just weren't publicized the way they are today.

I was thinking about social media while in the car this evening, actually. How stupid it all is. What the point of sharing your "story" is. How I'm jealous that people like Natasha couldn't care less about having any of the apps, and have no desire to share their lives the way everyone else does. I want to be more like that. I'm trying, but sometimes I'll cave and end up posting things here and there.

Speaking of which, RX saw some of the posts on my Instagram story today. In other words, RX knows that I'm in Florida. Not that I think he'll say anything, but I guess that's one aspect of social media I do enjoy. That's the whole thing for me, though. I don't care about what other people are doing. I hardly even look at other people's accounts. Instagram is more of a creative outlet for me when I post something. I genuinely enjoy making my videos. At the same time, I also enjoy letting people keep specially curated tabs on me when it comes to where I vacation or the fun things I'm doing.

Oh. Another thing. After I noticed Stefan and PW viewing my social media accounts today, I grew a pair of balls and blocked both of them. Fuck off to hell, you assholes. Goodbye! If you didn't want to be with me when you had the chance, you can kick rocks. Stop trying to get a sneak peek of my life.

Around midnight, I drove us home from Disney Springs. Dad would have fallen asleep behind the wheel, and Mom knew I would be more confident in getting us home than her. Once we arrived at the hotel, I immediately got ready for bed. I'm about to shut off the lights.

We didn't argue as a family at all today. Not once. It's like a freakin' miracle. I love it. Perhaps it's because we got it out of our system yesterday. Or maybe it's because we were all well fed during the day. Hell, Phillip even let me play a Mariah Carey song in the car and didn't shut it down. Either way, today was a great one. I hope tomorrow is even better. Here's hoping it will be.

Goodnight xo